> This may also be my source of the 19th century speculation that "if the
> auditory and visual nerves were crossed, leaving their connections to the
> brain intact, then we could _see_ thunder and _hear_ lightning. I
> understand that this has actually been accomplished anatomically in the
> ferret (Roe et al, 1990). No word from the ferret yet on what this does
> to its perception of a thunderstorm.
...Ive read this article... it describes the mapping of the visual fibers
into cortical areas that are "normally" mapped to audititory function...
this mapping occurs after neonatal destruction of the superior
colliculi and visual cortex, and the medial geniculi... the lateral
geniculi atrophy after their (visual) inputs are lesioned...
...so the experiment was one in the activity-dependent "seeking" of a fiber
system whose "normal" genetically-blueprinted targets are eliminated...
...this was not an experiment in switching the targets of audition &
vision...
...the result reported is important because it provides useful information
with respect to activity-dependent developmental processes... I was
disappointed that no description of behavior was given... ken collins
_____________________________________________________
People hate because they fear, and they fear because
they do not understand, and they do not understand
because hating is less work than understanding.